HE GOOD LIFE: It’s what we all want. As alumni, we know that a JWU education is the way to

get it. But the Good Life doesn’t have to be a dream of a far-too-distant future. We’re helping our
students learn how to live the lives they want today.
Charlotte Campus students are experiencing The Good Life — through a course of the same name
— as they explore how to find meaning and purpose in life. It’s a selection within our integrative
learning series, part of the new Arts & Sciences Core Experience that supports our mission of
providing an exceptional education that inspires professional success and lifelong personal and
intellectual growth. Professor Mark Peres conceived the course and writes about the evolution of
the Arts & Sciences Core Experience to stay current with best practices and prepare for external
accreditation assessment. Phenomenon-based teaching represents a move away from subjects
and toward interdisciplinary topics that faculty design around areas of passion and inquiry.
Some of the classes students can choose from include The Atomic Age, History of Science, Things
That Go, The Legal Imagination, City as Text, and Economics of Sin. These courses represent a
new way of engaging students and enhancing learning.
North Miami Campus first-year students are also discovering how they can achieve the Good
Life — through our Talent Advancement Program, a unique approach to helping those identified
as at risk of dropping out. Many are the first in their families to attend college and experience a
culture shock after leaving home. As they learn time management and decision-making skills
via the personal development course, and bond with other TAP students through on- and offcampus activities, their self-esteem is bolstered and their JWU experience is enriched. The program
has been so successful that we are hoping to launch it at other JWU campuses in the future.
Many believe that no Good Life is complete without an appreciation for craft beer and brewing.
This fall, JWU offers craft brewing courses with plans to debut an official minor and certificate
program in the fall of 2017. The curriculum provides the entrepreneurial foundation and technical
know-how to become a brewmaster, found a brewery and innovate a brand of beers. Our alumni
are at the forefront of this industry’s tremendous growth — one is even growing his own hops!
How do you celebrate the Good Life? I encourage you to share your thoughts with us at
jwumagazine@jwu.edu.

JWU Magazine is published four times a year
including a special supplement for recent
graduates. Photos (black and white or color
prints), high-resolution digital images and news
can be sent to JWU Magazine, 8 Abbott Park
Place, Providence, RI, 02903 or emailed to
jwumagazine@jwu.edu.
Selection and publication of entries are at
the editor’s discretion. JWU Magazine is
produced by University Communications in
cooperation with Resource Development
and Alumni Relations.
Chancellor
JOHN J. BOWEN ’77

PROVIDENCE
All-Class Reunion, April 28–30, 2017
NORTH MIAMI
Homecoming, February 3–4, 2017
CHARLOTTE
All-Class Reunion, April 28–30, 2017
CHARLESTON
All-Class Reunion, February 24–25, 2017
If you missed the Denver Homecoming
in October, don’t despair —
there will be another one next year!

n‌ September 1, the Providence Campus officially
opened the John J. Bowen Center for Science and
Innovation — the first building constructed on the
Interstate 195 land in downtown Providence.
University leadership was joined by Rhode Island
Governor Gina M. Raimondo and Providence Mayor Jorge Elorza
at the ceremony. A robotic arm, created by students in the university’s robotics engineering and technology program, cut a double
helix patterned ribbon to commemorate the occasion.
The center houses the university’s School of Engineering &
Design and the John Hazen White College of Arts & Sciences’
biology program. It was named in recognition of Chancellor John
J. Bowen’s many contributions to the university, which include
leading strategic efforts to elevate the quality and prominence of
experiential education and working tirelessly to secure the university’s financial future through fundraising. He was instrumental in
acquiring the land for the new $42 million, 71,000-square-foot
building and will continue, as chancellor of the university, to lead
and advocate for Johnson & Wales as it begins a new chapter in
science and innovation.
The center offers labs for innovation, robotics, drawing, network
engineering and Computer Aided Design (CAD), as well as a design
center for students in the School of Engineering & Design. It also
offers biology, physics, chemistry and anatomy labs for students in
the biology program. The first floor houses Red Mango, Campus
Dining’s newest establishment, which offers juice, smoothies and
nonfat frozen yogurt.
~ Ryan Crowley

service, during Restaurant Week
in Providence no less, nine of
Rhode Island’s consummate chefs
were invited to “Rhode Island’s
Seafood Chef’s Table.” Led by the
Commercial Fisheries Research
Foundation (CFRF) and JWU,
it was held at Hope & Main, a
unique culinary business incubator housed in a 100-year-old
former school in Warren, Rhode
Derek Wagner ’99 inspects a sea
robin while Matt Varga ’05 looks on.
Island. The objective: to get better acquainted with Rhode Island’s plentiful, but lesser-known
seafood species.
Among the group: Derek Wagner ’99 (Nick’s on Broadway),
Matt Varga ’05 (Gracie’s), Ben Mayhew ’10 (Garde de la Mer) and
Aaron Thorpe ’01 (Cook & Dagger). Guided by JWU faculty chefs
Matthew Britt and Rob Lucier, they had an hour to eviscerate,
create, taste and assess butterfish, dogfish, American eel, scup,
monkfish, and striped sea robin, a few of the species fresh from
the ocean.
Anna Malek Mercer, Ph.D., executive director of CFRF, told the
chefs, “Your skills are critical to bringing these species to the consumer.” The plated results are certain to make that a reality.
~ Miriam S. Weinstein ’08 MBA

ON JULY 1, THE JWU PROVIDENCE CAMPUS became the first
institution of higher education in Rhode Island to be tobacco-free campuswide.
During a campus celebration that included “cold turkey” sandwiches, President
and Chief Operating Officer Mim L. Runey, LP.D., was presented a citation from
the governor by Rhode Island Department of Health Director Dr. Nicole
Alexander Scott. – Ryan Crowley

4

Fall 2016

FASHION WEEK TAKES CENTER STAGE
WHILE DESIGNERS prepared

Thiago Rodrigues ’19

“STUDENTS STORE IT” AWARDED
FIRST PLACE IN SHARKFEST

T

hiago Rodrigues ’19 was awarded a $5,000 stipend
for his business venture Students Store It, a warehousing concept that can store student belongings
for a summer or longer, with pick-up and delivery
available. The prize was presented as part of the
5th Annual “SharkFest” entrepreneurship competition. Students
from all four JWU campuses gathered in Providence to pitch their
business ideas to a panel of judges from the business community.
The competition, which was developed by the university’s
Entrepreneurship Center, gives students the chance to network
with industry professionals who can help turn their business
concepts into reality. The North Miami Campus has a long history
of entrepreneurial students and alumni, and launched a B.S.B.A.
degree in Entrepreneurship this fall.
~ Robyn Hankerson

JWU GOES PET-FRIENDLY
JWU NMI RECENTLY BECAME ONE OF THE ONLY higher

education institutions in South Florida to allow students to
have pets in a residence hall. Arch Creek residence hall has been
designated pet friendly, offering students the opportunity to bring
their furry friends to live with them on campus. The excitement
surrounding this novelty instantly engaged students to apply for
housing in the residence hall.
~ Robyn Hankerson

to launch their new looks for
the season and models got ready
to walk the runway during New
York Fashion Week, the same
kind of energy invigorated North
Miami Campus fashion students
as they planned the debut of their
own Fashion Week.
Designed as a way to help students gain industry experience,
Fashion Week featured various
events. NMI held a screening and
discussion of “True Cost,” a documentary on clothing, its makers
and the impact the fashion industry has on the world. Students
also launched a pop-up shop, which challenged them to run a
boutique and be responsible for all aspects of merchandising,
sales, promotions, customer service and inventory. The highlight
of the week was the Forces in Fashion runway show. Produced by
members of the student organization Clutch in conjunction with
sports/entertainment/event management students, the showcase
featured JWU students modeling creations by other students and
local designers for a nearly sold-out audience at one of Miami’s hot
spots, the Newport Beachside Hotel.
“Having to be a stage manager and run a show myself helped
me learn what it really takes to put on a fashion show,” said Anna
Zarrella ’16, a JWU School of Business fashion merchandising &
retailing major. “Many of the skills we learn in class, like merchandising and pricing, helped us to style the models, price items and
set up our pop-up shop.”
~ Robyn Hankerson

Crystal Jacques ’17 and Oliver

IRON CHEF CHALLENGE:
WINNER TAKES ALL
LaNeicia Anderson ’19 won JWU’s
Iron Chef Challenge (sponsored by
Hampton Creek and Chartwells),
landing a trip to San Francisco.
The prize included a tour of Hampton
Creek’s Mission HQ and recipe
development with their Michelinstarred chefs.
www.jwu.edu

5

CAMPUS NEWS
JWU DENVER “KICKS BUTTS”
OFF CAMPUS

I

n spite of grey and overcast skies, Denver students,
staff, alumni and even Wildcat Willie gathered outside
Centennial Hall July 1 to celebrate the universitywide
transition to a 100 percent tobacco-free campus. (North
Miami and Charlotte campuses enacted the policy last
year; Providence and Denver followed this year.) The “No Butts
About It” event also provided an opportunity to clean up cigarette butts and litter throughout campus.
“This is a major step forward for the campus and Johnson &
Wales as an institution,” said Denver Campus President Richard
Wiscott, Ph.D. “I’m personally committed to creating a healthy
campus environment and will promote a healthy mind, a healthy
body, and a healthy soul and spirit so that all of us can get the
most of our Johnson & Wales experience.”
Worldwide, it is estimated that 1.69 billion pounds of cigarette
butts end up as waste each year. Nonbiodegradable and toxic,
cigarette butts remain in the environment and can leach toxic
chemicals, including nicotine, formaldehyde and arsenic into
water and soil for years.
As the formalities came to a close, volunteers teamed up to
focus on areas where littering had been the most egregious. In
total, six bags of garbage were collected, and a bucket was filled
to the brim with cigarette butts that once littered the campus.
~ Duncan Maxwell ’18

JWU volunteers
clean up cigarette
butts around
campus during
the “No Butts
About It” event for
a tobacco-free
university.
Photos by
Amy Vucci

ACADEMIC PROGRAM EXPANSION
THE DENVER CAMPUS ACADEMIC PORTFOLIO continues to

expand, with new undergraduate and graduate programs offered
for the 2016–17 academic year and beyond.
The university’s rapidly expanding hybrid (in-class and online)
MBA program will now offer five concentrations at the Denver
Campus. In addition to a traditional MBA as well as concentrations in Human Resources Management, Nonprofit Management
and Hospitality, an MBA with a concentration in Operations &
Supply Chain Management will be offered in 2017.
Beginning this fall, the School of Business within the College of
Management will offer bachelor’s degrees in Marketing as well as
Entrepreneurship. The College of Arts & Sciences will offer a
bachelor’s degree in English: Writing and Literature this fall. In
2017-18, the college will also debut bachelor’s degrees in Sociology
and Health Sciences, an integrative, multidisciplinary approach to
prepare students for careers in health and wellness.
~ Holli Keyser

6

Fall 2016

YOUNG FOODIES AT CULINARY CAMPS
This summer, kids had the opportunity to explore their gastronomic curiosities
through JWU Denver’s youth culinary camps. Held for the first time on campus,
aspiring young chefs learned basic culinary skills, the origins of food, how to
reduce waste and how to prepare cultural dishes from around the world.
Photo by Amy Vucci

PRESIDENT MOCK TAKES THE HELM

Aaliyah Mitchell ’19

GOING PUBLIC:
THE WHAT I BE PROJECT

A

nationwide project by photographer Steve
Rosenfield allowed students and staff to
discuss their deepest insecurity and share
it with the public during the What I Be
Project last spring. The endeavor started as
a social experiment that has gained national attention concerning empowerment and honesty.
Amber Jolly, assistant director of student involvement &
leadership, said, “I’m in awe of the bravery displayed by the
students and staff who participated in this project as they
talked about issues related to body image, race/ethnicity,
mental health, sexual assault and more.”
Nearly 35 people sat for a 45-minute intimate discussion,
then had their pictures taken in hopes of opening up
communication on campus and helping everyone to accept
diversity. After discussing their deepest insecurities, participants were encouraged to create power statements that
their insecurity does not define them.
~ Melinda Law

spirit of collaboration with area college counseling centers while
supporting continuing education for staff. Representatives from
Central Piedmont Community College, Queens University of
Charlotte, Wingate University and JWU attended workshops
focused on students with ADHD or autism, as well as supporting
students in recovery. The college and university counselors are
involved in the daily promotion of health, safety and resiliency of
students. Stacie MacArthur, director of counseling services, says
it’s advantageous to glean information from fellow counselors:
Everyone learns how to better assist students with challenges that
may occur during college, while helping to promote greater wellness in the student population.
~ Melinda Law

Jon Strayhorn

Steve Rosenfield

ROBERT C. MOCK JR., ED.D. was installed

earlier this year as the second president
of the Charlotte Campus. Members of the
senior administration, university trustees
and key business and education leaders
joined the celebration. Early on, Mock knew
a diverse education would help him reach
his initial goal of becoming CEO of a Fortune 500 company — a reframed goal that eventually led to higher
education: First, as associate dean in the college of professional
studies at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, associate vice
provost at the University of Arkansas-Fayetteville, then vice president of student affairs at the University of Kentucky and now
president of JWU Charlotte. “The strength of our academic program offerings are key elements in both our historical and future
enrollment plans ,” says Mock. “Community engagement has been
very important to me; my goal is to grow this institution by
strengthening student life and growing our academic programs.”

~ Melinda Law

SOUTHERN HOSPITALITY
THERE WERE AN ASTONISHING 500-plus interviews for

students wanting internships or jobs during the Hospitality &
Food Service Spring Expo. More than 100 vendors were represented at the annual event hosted by Experiential Education &
Career Services to benefit culinary, hospitality and foodservice
students. Tarun Malik, Ed.D., vice president and dean of academics, said, “While this event was in progress, the College of Culinary
Arts created forums for students to interact with recent alumni
and vendors, as well as to view product demonstrations. The variety of employers and opportunities keeps getting better each year.”
Representatives included Compass Group USA, The Peabody
Memphis, Walt Disney World, the Carolina Panthers and Omni
Hotels and Resorts.
~ Melinda Law

ATHLETICS
The Consummate Professional

g

BY AJ BRODERICK ’09

As Peter French ’16 goes pro, he reflects on how perspective
was everything during his last collegiate season.

olf teaches us about life and life
teaches us about golf. In a tumultuous game in
which triumph and agony are never too far
apart, it is easy to forget that it is still just a
game. For Peter French ’16, newfound perspective on the game he loves proved how much
more he loves life itself — and how intertwined
both can be.
In December 2015, French was on the North
Miami Campus preparing for his South Beach
Amateur and Patriot All-America tournaments
when he received a call that immediately took
his mind off golf. After having what he felt was
a subpar fall season and fighting the expectation to prove himself in a couple of big amateur
events, his perspective shifted when he learned
that his father had been rushed to the hospital
that day and later diagnosed with cancer.
“It was tough,” he says. “I didn’t know what to
do; I just wanted to be at home with him.” After
undergoing relentless procedures, testing and
best case results given the circumstances,
French decided to stay and play in South Beach
before withdrawing from the Patriot All-America
and flying to Boston to be with his family.
“I don’t think there was a right thing to do at
the time, but I know he wanted me to play, and

8

Fall 2016

with live scoring and everything at the South
Beach, I thought it would give him something to
look forward to,” says French.
Mike French is no stranger to following his
son on the golf course. Since he was a toddler, his
father carted Peter to junior golf tournaments
all over the map, relishing every opportunity to
carry the bag.
Mike French recalls how “Peter started hitting balls before he could walk with plastic
‘Little Tykes’ clubs. Before I knew it, he was at
the range every day, just whack whack whack,
ball after ball. He loved to spend hours putting
on the practice green until dark, even as a child.”
The secret to his son’s success, according to
Mike French, is his competitive experience:
“The U.S. Challenge Cup was huge for Peter.
He loved the competition and traveling to new
places, experiencing tournament play early on
and not being afraid of competition has given
him a drive to succeed at all costs.”
“My father taught me a lot about how to play
the game,” says Peter. “He taught me how to
grind and how important the putter was to my
game. He also taught me how to act and the
importance of a work ethic. My parents did everything they could for me to chase my dream.”

With his health improving last spring and a
relentless desire to watch his son compete, it
wasn’t long before Mike French returned to
the links, where he gave a brilliant rendition of
the team mascot, Wildcat Willie, during the
Primm Battle in Las Vegas and the National
Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA)
National Championship in Illinois. Since his
son became a Wildcat back in September 2012,
Mike French joined the squad with Peter. He
was seen lurking, running, sometimes even
fist pumping through golf courses all over the
country — scorecard, sandwiches and positive
vibes in hand.
“Knowing he was at home battling cancer
fueled me like crazy,” says Peter. “If he was
fighting at home, I needed to be fighting on and
off the course. I’m willing to do whatever it
takes to be the best that I can be because I know
that’s exactly what he wants.” In golf, success
can be contingent on the relationship between
the present and the big picture. “I always
wanted to win and wanted the team to win,” he
notes. “My father’s situation helped me stay
hungry but patient no matter what; I knew
that’s what my father would tell me, too.” As he
completed the final chapter of a decorated

career at JWU, the alumnus continued to wear
“Chowie,” his father’s nickname, on the back of
his hat as “a reminder to never quit and never
lose sight of having fun and enjoying life. My
dad hasn’t entirely grown up, but in a great way;
he’s full of energy and life.”
There is no doubt French was enjoying life as
he racked up a number of accolades his senior
year. Already a three-time collegiate champion
as he entered his final spring, French got off to
an inspired start, finishing first twice, second,
and thirteenth in his first four tournaments.
His play led the Wildcats to the top spot in the
nation in March, the first time JWU sat atop
the NAIA poll since 2006.
Over the next 10 weeks, French continued to
put himself in contention before winning the
individual title at the 2016 Sun Conference
Championship, being named Sun Conference
Player of the Year for the second consecutive
year, and placing eighth at the NAIA National
Championship. The following week, French
would be named the recipient of the Jack
Nicklaus Award, presented by Barbasol as the
NAIA National Player of the Year.
“After being a finalist last year and coming up
short it was definitely one of my biggest goals

Peter French ’16

Peter and Mike French

this year,” says Peter. “To earn it with a lot of
hard work feels really good; it’s a dream come
true and an absolute honor to have someone
like Jack Nicklaus sponsor and present the
award. I’m grateful to Mr. Nicklaus, the GCAA
and Barbasol for the opportunity.”
French spent his first summer as a college
graduate at his hometown Franklin Country
Club, in Franklin, Massachusetts, having just
qualified for his third and final U.S. Amateur
Championship in July before embarking on a
professional golf career this fall. With his
father completing his final round of treatment
and officially in remission, French reflects on
dealing with the impact of his father’s health,
impending graduation, course expectations
and chasing goals like the Arnold Palmer Cup
and Jack Nicklaus Award.
“It was difficult at times but I had a good support system,” says Mike. “I just tried to stay
focused on what I could control. It was really
exciting and a huge honor to be considered for
these awards throughout the season, but my
focus was on doing everything I could to play
my best golf in the moment and enjoy it — for
myself and the team.” He would do just that,
ultimately leading the Wildcats to six team

championships, that coveted number one ranking, their second consecutive Sun Conference
Championship and a fifth-place finish at the
65th NAIA National Championship.
Life and golf offer similar lessons and require
compatible qualities for success. Unfortunately,
they both present the most gut-wrenching
reminders that neither should be taken for
granted and that attitude is everything. Though
it didn’t seem like it when the phone rang back
in December 2015, perhaps perspective and
grit were the catalysts needed to produce an
exciting finale to a college golf career that
included six wins, 15 Top-5’s, 26 Top-10’s, three
All-American honors, two Sun Conference
Player of the Year awards and culminated
with a congratulatory handshake from Jack
Nicklaus at The Memorial Tournament in
Ohio. For Mike French, Peter French and the
Wildcats of JWU, grit is one thing that you can
always count on.

AJ Broderick ’09 is the head golf coach
and director of golf management at the
North Miami Campus.

www.jwu.edu

9

LIQUID ASSETS

As JWU launches a craft brewing curriculum this fall, graduates thriving
in the industry prove that small-scale beer is big business.
By Jeanne Ryan | Photography by Mike Cohea

COUPLE OF MONTHS BACK,

Josh Mersfelder ’14 went truck shopping. He returned home with
a charcoal-colored puppy instead, and promptly named her after an
Australian hops variety.
Mersfelder recounts his story seated on a stool in his brewery’s tap
room, gazing fondly at Ella as she smiles back, wagging her tail.
The anecdote reflects Mersfelder’s own journey, which led from his
first love of cars to his discovery of hops — and the joy of beer making.
As a teenager, he took on kitchen jobs to support his auto obsession.
Continuing to JWU, Mersfelder developed a new passion, which
brought him back home to upstate New York, where he is director of
brewing operations at craft brewery Local 315, tucked into farmland
west of Syracuse in a town called Camillus.
“It’s kind of surreal,” Mersfelder muses, holding a pint of his
Retribution Double IPA and surveying the room. Bartenders pull
from 16 handles to pour beers, sours and cider for visitors who have
driven the back road off Interstate 90 in search of a cold custom-made
brew on a hot summer’s day. “I told the owner I’d just be here to pick
weeds and feed the pigs.” But after sharing his home brews — created
using methods learned at JWU — Mersfelder got a call: “You can quit
your job,” owner Dan Mathews said. “And start full time tomorrow.”
That was spring 2015. The brewery has taken off since day one,
when the line snaked out the door and down to the goat house, and
the bartenders couldn’t pour the beers fast enough. “It was like
Woodstock,” says Mathews.
Nowadays, Local 315 has a comfortably packed taproom that
overflows onto a spacious porch, where enthusiasts lounge in
Adirondack chairs that overlook fields and forest. To the side is a
beer garden, where area musicians play on a small wooden stage.
Out front, food trucks rumble into the parking lot.
The wholesale side has taken off too, growing to more than 30
accounts in the first year. “I just locked down Cheesecake Factory,”
Mersfelder shares. When the call to set up that account came,
Mersfelder thought it was a wrong number. “This is Local 315,”
he clarified, certain that the rep was looking for the mammoth
Budweiser brewery the next town over, run by beer giant Anheuser
Busch InBev. There was no mistake: Restaurant management
wanted to make a local push.
Small-scale beers are now very big business. According to the
national Brewers’ Association (BA), while total sales of beer dipped
last year, craft breweries — defined by the BA as small, independent
beer makers using traditional techniques — made a significant gain,
with sales revenue growing by 16 percent to $22.3 billion, to comprise
more than 12 percent of the nation’s overall beer market.
JWU has responded to student interest by creating a craft brewing
curriculum, which kicked off at the Charlotte, Denver and Providence
campuses this fall. A minor in craft brewing and a certificate in
professional brewing will be available in fall 2017.

12

Fall 2016

Josh Mersfelder ’14

ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR JENNIFER PEREIRA

was hired in 2003 as a wine specialist. But after her arrival at
Providence, she was drawn to beer, which was given a lab day during
freshman year. At that time, she thought, “They only have one day
of beer. This has got to change.”
She created the JbreW Student Brewing Club. Hosting its
inaugural Ocean State Homebrew Competition in spring 2011, the
club saw 180 entries. JbreWers earned medals and — more importantly — the judges’ rave reviews for their success in organizing the
event. “The club was really the only way to get experience and
network in the industry,” says Pereira.
This past spring’s 500 entries included homebrews from as far
afield as Oregon and California. Also last year, Pereira and students
launched Providence’s official brewing team, the Wet Willies, which
gives students increased access to off-campus competitions.
Academically, the university’s planned four-course brewing minor
builds on its Brewing Arts class, which, says Pereira, “is really
popular. Students work in teams and brew batches of beer at home.”
But student brewers, faculty emphasize, do not have an “Animal
House” chug-a-lug sensibility. When Associate Professor CharLee
Puckett asks his Denver students whether they’d pay the same
money to get three craft beers or a mass-produced six-pack, the
choice is unanimous: the smaller amount of craft. Pereira concurs:

“These kids have grown up in a world where there’s always been a
huge supply of craft. They have taste. They care about the local
economy and where their food comes from. They understand that
craft beer is a really important part of the business.”
The catalyst for today’s market? “You can thank Jimmy Carter,”
says Pereira. In 1978, the president approved lifting restrictions on
home brewing, and ushered in a re-education of beer drinkers. At that
time, says Puckett, “It was whatever was cheapest and recognized.”
Echoes Pereira, “Buying beer back then was like shopping for white
paint.” Nor did overseas’ suds assuage that lack, she adds: “Most of
the imports were spoiled by the time we got them.”
With the door opened for homebrewers, craft beer’s frontiersmen
got to work. Now-legends such as Sam Adams founder Jim Koch
shouldered the burden, carrying his brew door-to-door to bars and
restaurants across Boston. “Look at how much they had to go
through,” Puckett observes. “Now, people are willing to experiment.”

CHARLOTTE GRAD TARA GOULET ’06

was looking to do just that after she and her husband Chris relocated
to the Queen City. Settling in, there was one thing they couldn’t find:
“We were buying six-packs of craft beer that had been shipped from
the West Coast.”
So Chris Goulet harnessed his MBA and wrote a business plan.
For additional investors, they turned to friends: a core group in
well-paid corporate jobs who wanted to invest in something they
believed in. Then the couple and their brewmaster, Charlotte grad
Conor Robinson ’10, started learning from breweries across
the state.
In December 2011, the Goulets and their friends opened
Birdsong Brewing Company, on North Davidson Street
in the Queen City. In a year, they were turning a profit,
and, not long after, they could barely keep up with
demand. By early 2014, they were running out of space.
Today, the expanded Birdsong Brewing Company sits a
mile down the road. With triple the capacity, the business
has more than doubled its wholesale accounts to over
500 – and forecasts reaching as many as 1,200.
“Timing was a part of it,” Goulet says of their rapid
success. “Charlotte was so lacking in small craft
breweries.” Shortly before Birdsong opened, so did NoDa
Brewing. “Right next door to us. We fed off of one another.
If you’re making good beer and we’re making good beer,
then that’s good for everybody. People are looking for
small, local and craft — and they want to try something
new all the time.”
“A rising tide raises all ships,” notes Charlotte Associate
Professor Alistair Williams, who taught Robinson.

Birdsong, says Williams, was buoyed by a wave generated in the
state’s capital in 2005, when, after a two-year battle, the “Pop the
Cap” legislation passed, more than doubling beer’s allowed alcohol
content to 15 percent. Currently, a fight is underway to increase craft
brewers’ ability to self-distribute. “The economy of North Carolina
is being shaped by these legislative changes,” observes Williams,
who is studying the economic impact of craft breweries. “A lot of our
graduates are getting positions in craft brewing — and not just in
production. I can only see that continuing.”
Favorable laws have converged with demand. “Beer is part of a
trend where people are looking for local products,” says Pereira.
“Back in the ’90s brewers had to explain what a craft brewery was to
the banks. Now I think the business world has more understanding.”
Puckett agrees: “I can approach a bank with a business plan and point
to all these other successes. The possibilities are limitless as long as
you do the work.”
“Limitless” craft-brew possibilities and increasing market share
have corporate beer makers pivoting. “We’re scared because y’all
don’t like our product,” Puckett recalls one bigwig saying. “They can’t
beat ’em,” he observes. “They can’t join ’em.”
They can, however, buy them — and leverage popular brands.
“When your owner is a multinational corporation,” explains
Williams, “you no longer fit into the craft brewing category. For the
craft brewing side, it’s a bad thing because it confuses the market.
Consumers think they are buying a genuine craft beer.”

Conor Robinson ’10

Tara Goulet ’06

on this page:
Scenes from Fawn Crossing hops farm
in upstate New York
14

Fall 2016

is head brewer at 10 Barrel Brewing Company’s outpost in Portland,
Oregon. She came on board in 2014, leaving Oregon’s Pelican
Brewery for the chance to build out a new location for the popular
craft beer maker, headquartered in Bend. A week after accepting the
job, she heard the news: AB (Anheuser-Busch) InBev had bought 10
Barrel. “What the hell does this mean?” she thought. “Should I be
mad? Will I be fired? I decided, ‘What do I have to lose? And what
could I gain from this: all the education and the ability to use really
hard-to-get and expensive ingredients.’ ”
Recently back from a glamping trip at the company’s Elk Mountain
Farm in Idaho, Burnside describes sleeping amidst the hops and
dining at a long table set between the rows, tasting beers with brewers
from other formerly independent InBev labels.
And in the Portland brewery: “So far, I have complete control. That’s
been very surprising.” The result? “I can’t keep up with demand. We
are the busiest 10 Barrel location.”
Burnside credits her culinary degree for providing a strong foundation: “Beer is cooking. I use the kitchen all the time.” Her recent
coconut pale ale incorporated “a quick infusion” with hot wort
(unfermented pre-beer) passed through a strainer with toasted and
untoasted coconut. “Everyone is raving about it.”
As the industry has grown — since 2013, at a rate of almost two new
craft breweries a day, according to the Brewers’ Association — so has
the competition and the pressure. “No one knows where the ceiling
is,” says Birdsong’s Robinson, “but the need to stand out is bigger.
What makes one brewery’s beer different than the one across the
street or across town? It’s very hard to constantly innovate and stay
true to where you were originally.” He credits his creative brew crew
with helping him keep up: “Just like any artist, I can’t always come
up with some new beer every week.”
Birdsong’s expansion gives Robinson and his team room to create
seasonal and limited-edition brews, while at the same time allowing
for ramp-up of its regular line and lab space for rigorous testing,
which underscores a reality perhaps obscured by the title “brewmaster.” “It’s not like being a celebrity chef,” warns Pereira. “It’s 90
percent cleaning, five percent accounting and five percent brewing.”
But for the passionate ones, that five percent is enough. Water,
malted grains, hops and yeast come in many more hues than that
plain old “white paint,” Pereira says, pointing to variations such as
oyster stout and bacon beer. “There’s really no limit to what you
can put in — with beer, all bets are off.”
Back at Local 315, Mersfelder, who took Pereira’s brewing class,
describes the lengths he went to for his maple imperial stout,
including substituting water with sap from a nearby farm’s trees.
His quest is to use local ingredients, like the rhubarb for his
Strawberry Rhubarb Blonde Ale, sourced from neighboring fields:
“It tastes like a strawberry rhubarb pie.

Photo by Jeff Kennedy, ijkproductions.com

DENVER GRAD WHITNEY BURNSIDE ’10

Whitney Burnside ’10

“My heart is in this company,” says Mersfelder. “I love every
second because of what we’re trying to do for the local farmers and
ourselves.”
This is the passion sparked as a result of his early love for cars,
when Mersfelder started down a culinary path as he washed dishes in
local kitchens to pay for the restoration of his 1973 Chevrolet Nova
Super Sport.
During his senior year, working with his landlord on a 1967 GTO,
he pondered, “What the hell am I doing with my life?” He was given
the age-old advice to do what made him happy. “That’s when I
switched everything with Jennifer Pereira and [Associate Professor]
Michael Sabitoni. In the last 10 weeks of my four years is when I
decided what I wanted to do.”
In the tap room, leading explorers through a beer flight that
incorporates Local 315-farmed hops — “our terroir, our taste” —
he reflects: “It’s kind of unbelievable how it all worked out. It’s been
a very rewarding, unforeseen journey.”

www.jwu.edu

15

on this page:
Scenes from Birdsong Brewery
in Charlotte, North Carolina

16

Fall 2016

on this page:
Scenes from Local 315 Brewery
and Fawn Crossing hops farm
in upstate New York

www.jwu.edu

17

Mapping
the Terrain
The Arts & Sciences Core Task Force had a mission:
Create a new curriculum model that would elevate best practices
and cross-pollinate interdisciplinary topics. The result?
The launch of Integrative Learning, a series of innovative courses
that hone critical thinking skills â&#x20AC;&#x201D; and even prepare students
for professions that donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t yet exist.

BY MARK PERES, J.D.
Illustrations by Neil Webb

www.jwu.edu

19

“Welcome to The Good Life.

Most courses at JWU focus on how to work. This course will focus on how to live. How do we manage the
complexity of living? How do we compose a life of meaning and purpose? We will consider a series of strategies so we might live good and satisfying lives in rapidly changing times.
Imagine a kaleidoscope that we turn to answer questions about living. We will tumble bits of philosophy,
science, business, literature and psychology and see new colors and patterns. Along the way we will consider
old ideas and new ones that will challenge what we might believe is true.
We will begin by exploring the human condition. We will compare and contrast what the great Western
philosophers say about our existence. We will explore the paradox of happiness, then pivot to what business
might teach us about risk and reward. We will shift to examining how ways of thinking shape our experiences and how we come to understand. We will read excerpts from novels about the American dream, learn
about the power of habits and reflect on our own grit and resilience. We will see our own light and shadows.
These are uncommon and often uncomfortable topics for deep discovery. But we will do it together.
When we look at life squarely, we free ourselves to act bravely. I’m excited to be on this journey with you.”

t

hose are the words with which I begin teaching The Good
Life, one of many new integrative learning courses at the
heart of a new general education curriculum called the
JWU Arts & Sciences Core Experience.
Every few years, academic programs undergo an internal
review to stay current with best practices and to prepare for
external accreditation assessment. In the spring of 2010, an
internal program review of the Arts & Sciences made three
core recommendations: first, define a philosophy and value
for general education within the overall student experience;
second, establish a coherent and relevant core curriculum,
integrating with major requirements; and third, increase
the level of academic challenge by linking courses in
progressive sequence toward development of higher order
thinking skills. These were not minor adjustments. The
recommendations essentially called for a complete reappraisal of general education at Johnson & Wales University.
At the same time that these recommendations were
released, the American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) published “Raising the Bar: Employers’
Views on College Learning in the Wake of the Economic
Downturn” (Jan. 2010). The report validated what many
academics already suspected: Employers value in-depth
technical knowledge in a field with a strong combination
of critical thinking and communication skills. Routine cognitive and manual skills are not enough. Employers are
demanding ever-increasing higher order skills from all
their employees. Think of the top of the pyramid of Bloom’s
Taxonomy of Learning (a hierarchical model used by educators to classify learning objectives from lower order to
higher order skills). At the top end, learners have the ability

20

Fall 2016

to analyze connections between ideas, evaluate standards
and conclusions, and create original and valuable work.
On the higher education spectrum, Johnson & Wales
University was in the enviable position of offering what
technical institutions on one end and liberal arts colleges
on the other end struggled to produce: graduates with experiential knowledge in a profession who offered a refined set
of higher order skills. JWU was strategically positioned to
deliver the workforce of the 21st century, but administrators recognized the university would need to raise its game
to meet that promise.

These were not minor adjustments.
The recommendations essentially called
for a complete reappraisal of general
education.
The then-provost of the university, Veera Gaul, Ph.D., took
a decisive step: form a ninja task force (that’s my phrase)
to propose a new curriculum model that would meet the
challenge of the A&S program review recommendations
and the AAC&U report. During the 2010–11 academic
year, administrators formed The A&S Core Task Force,
comprised of 12 arts and sciences educators from the four
campuses: Christine Thompson, Ph.D. (associate dean of
A&S), Maureen Farrell, Ph.D., (humanities), Laura Galligan,
Ph.D. (science) and Eileen Medeiros, Ph.D. (English) from
Providence; Michelle Garcia, Ed.D. (associate dean of academic affairs), Carol Koris (English) and Martha Sacks,
Ph.D. (director of the center for academic support) from

North Miami; Kreg Abshire, Ph.D. (English), Richard
Wiscott, Ph.D. (then vice president and dean of academic
affairs, now Campus President) and Tom Fitzpatrick
(mathematics) from Denver; and David Jewell, D.H.Sc.,
(science) and me (humanities) from Charlotte. At our first
meeting, Gaul charged us to ‘Think big and dream big.’
The A&S Core Task Force met from spring 2011 to
summer 2012. Under the guidance of co-chairs Christine
Thompson and Kreg Abshire, we examined the bricks and
mortar of general education at JWU and proposed a whole
new design. We started with big questions: Who (or what)
is an educated person? What are the skills, knowledge
and habits of mind needed by every JWU graduate? What is
the underlying philosophy and purpose of general education at an institution focused on preparing graduates for
professional careers? The discussions were invigorating
and clarifying.
The big questions then informed the specifics of curriculum design. The Task Force considered the AAC&U’s
Liberal Education and America’s Promise (LEAP) outcomes, researched general education programs from other
universities, and debated prerequisites, rubrics, elective
choices and credit hours. We traveled to each JWU campus
and formed subcommittees of faculty and students to
inform our work.
Meanwhile, the university launched a review of its mission statement and essential learning outcomes that
sometimes paused and at other times accelerated our
timeline. At the heart of our effort was proposing an A&S
curriculum that would have interlocking coherence and
serve the major programs.

This is what we proposed: additional credit hours for an
outcomes-based, sequential, progressive-learning model;
balance between major domains of knowledge (arts and
humanities, social sciences, natural sciences and math);
thematic and dialogue-driven first-year composition and
communication courses; refinement of elective and major
program requirements; and a focus on integrative learning
at the sophomore and senior levels.

The big questions informed the specifics
of curriculum design.
This is what we got: the same number of credit hours;
greater balance across domains of knowledge with additional math/science electives; English courses that would
continue to focus on writing instruction with English faculty encouraged to consider interdisciplinary themes and
readers to enhance content and discourse; restructuring of
elective and major program credits; and the launch of an
exciting new set of Integrative Learning (ILS) classes that
faculty could design around areas of passion and inquiry.
The ILS courses were a breakthrough. ILS courses are
designed to synthesize connections between disciplinary
silos and contexts. They pose big interdisciplinary questions. They ask students to transfer knowledge between
domains and apply skills from one situation to another.
Students are challenged to produce original capstone work.
The university bravely committed to launching the new
A&S Core Experience by September 2014, a two-year
turnaround, kicking off a mad dash of administrative and
curriculum work. New ILS courses at the 2000 and 4000

www.jwu.edu

21

level needed proposing, curriculum review, scheduling and
teaching for all 14,000-plus undergraduate students across
four campuses. At full rollout by 2017, the university anticipates delivering more than 100 sections of ILS2000 and
ILS4000 courses per year.

As a member of the faculty, I’m privileged
to help our students prepare for the
world we know and for scenarios we can
barely predict.
ILS offerings include: The Atomic Age; History of Science;
Things That Go Bump in the Night; The Legal Imagination;
The XX Factor; City as Text; Economics of Sin; Explorations
in Symmetry; and Visual Literacy and the Sociology of Perception. These are a whole new breed of courses at JWU.
The full roll-out of dozens of entirely new A&S ILS
courses is happening as existing major programs across
the university are undergoing reviews of their own, new
academic disciplines are being launched, new technologies
are being introduced into the classroom, faculty teaching
loads are being adjusted, and new staff, professors and
senior administrators are on the scene. Meanwhile, a
universitywide accreditation review is imminent, as is a
new five-year strategic plan; all as student needs, demographics and regulatory and business demands are shifting.
JWU is managing change across the enterprise at an
unprecedented pace.
The skills needed by JWU administrators and professors
to manage complexity are the very ones that the A&S
curriculum seek to build: creative thinking, cooperation,

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Fall 2016

emotional intelligence and discipline depth. The university
is investing in the very professional and liberal arts capacities in the classrooms it needs to lead.
Students at JWU are a cross-section of America who
aspire to make more of their lives. As a member of the faculty, I’m in the privileged position to help them prepare for
the world we know and for scenarios we can barely predict.
One way to do so is through academic rigor founded on a
deep awareness of how much we don’t know. Integrative
learning courses allow faculty to pose questions that do not
have neat answers.
Integrated learning courses are changing the life of the
university. JWU has long offered education toward a narrow end, helping students to launch specific careers with a
tailored set of skills, but it is now also in the business of
preparing students for professions that don’t yet exist. This
requires that students develop creative problem-solving
and leadership skills that are enriched by interdisciplinary
insight. We are about the business of helping students live
good lives.
“We have raised questions in this course about how to live,”
I tell my students near the end of the course. “These questions are vital and timeless. The final journal assignment
asks you to reflect on what you have learned. What key ideas
made an impression? How has your understanding of ‘the
good life’ been confirmed or changed? What actions are you
likely to take to fully realize who you are?”

Mark Peres, J.D., is a professor in the College of Arts
& Sciences at the Charlotte Campus.

The Good Life:

A Student Perspective
“Follow your dreams” is a message full of hope for the future. We all know it. It is one
of the many messages we do not even process anymore because listening to it is equivalent to opening a door or turning on the lights as you enter a room. Movies push it, our
parents support it, and teachers strive for you to have it. Everyone wants to follow their
dreams. That is until the dreams become too hard to realize or cruelly disappoint because
we have not deeply considered all the elements of a good life.
My parents began talking about me attending boarding school when I was two years
old. When I was 13, I chose a beautiful private school in a small New England cow town.
We had the creamery down the street and the coveted college counselors. From freshman
year I knew I had to take Calculus and pass Spanish 3 Honors to even be considered for
the elite colleges my boarding school (and my mother) wanted for me. But as soon as the
college process came, all of a sudden the idea of another liberal arts school with brick
libraries and fountains in the middle of campus no longer appealed. I had no desire to sit
in a traditional classroom. I needed to explore my passion for food while on my feet and
in an intelligent way.
I chose Johnson & Wales University because it is an experiential learning college
— meaning learning is professionally focused. We are not going to discuss how to
julienne an onion properly, we will actually julienne an onion and see. This approach not
only takes place in culinary labs, but in academic courses as well. JWU offers academic
courses that are active and complement the demanding world of culinary arts.
“The Good Life,” taught by Mark Peres, is a wonderful example of an active learning
course. I thought I had mastered what I needed to know about the liberal arts in boarding
school, but at JWU I was suddenly pushed to integrate learning new material with
critical thinking skills. Discussing different perspectives and ways of knowing was
challenging. Tying in elements of music, literature and philosophy was fun and made
even discussing the Stoic, Marcus Aurelius, exciting. Being vulnerable with new knowledge and discussing the ways religion changed the way humans see their lives was
intense, mind blowing, and for some, like me, life changing. My mind was turned on in an
academic classroom just like it had been in my boarding school days. Professor Peres’
class made everyone discuss the true and difficult elements of a good life rather than just
the simple message of “follow your dreams.”
Franchesca Kiesling ’17 is a senior in the College of Culinary Arts
at the Charlotte Campus.

www.jwu.edu

23

By Tim Elfrink
Photos by Karli Evans

school of life

Across the nation, approximately 40 percent of freshmen abandon college before earning
a degree. JWUâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s new Talent Advancement Program identifies those students most at risk of
dropping out for an initiative that tips the odds in their favor.

TAP student Abraham Baullosa III â&#x20AC;&#x2122;17 in the North Miami Campus library; his journal, left

r

Rebecca Yearwood-Stinchcomb ’19

North Miami Campus President Larry Rice, Ed.D., ’90

ebecca Yearwood-Stinchcomb’s first real culture shock
‌after moving to Johnson & Wales University’s North
Miami Campus hit when she saw the jam-packed buses
rolling down Biscayne Boulevard. “I’d never even ridden a
bus before. We don’t even have taxis or cabs in my hometown. You just walk everywhere or ride your bike,” says the
gregarious 19-year-old native of Mount Dora, a farming town of 12,000
people in central Florida.
That wasn’t the end of Yearwood-Stinchcomb’s bumpy adjustment to
her new life in a booming metropolis of 2.6 million. She marveled at the
diverse mix of cultures and languages among her classmates. She was
dazed by the responsibility of balancing class schedules and meeting
assignments. And she missed the simplicity of her hometown.
Given all those challenges, Yearwood-Stinchcomb ’19 might easily have
become one of the roughly 40 percent of incoming freshmen nationwide
who leave college before earning a degree. But she had an advantage
custom-designed to keep students like her on track at Johnson & Wales:
the school’s new Talent Advancement Program.
The program, which debuted on the North Miami Campus during the
2015–16 school year, offers an innovative approach to an age-old problem
for college administrators: When students come from a dizzying array of
backgrounds and with varying degrees of preparation, how can schools
create a one-size fits all program to keep them on track?
TAP, as the program is colloquially called, starts by tossing the idea of
a uniform approach to such a complex challenge. Instead, it identifies
incoming students most at risk of dropping out and then marries a weekly
class focused on personal development with campus activities that build
an affinity for the JWU experience.
The end goal? Making college work for the students most likely to be
challenged by their new campus life.

“We had students with the potential to succeed, but they lacked
the confidence,” says Senior Vice President of Administration Marie
Bernardo-Sousa, LP.D., ’92, who was instrumental in the endeavor’s genesis. “For example, students might feel overwhelmed by their first failing
grade. Through TAP we were able to change that construct to help them
realize that failure isn’t fatal to their academic ambitions or goals.”
“TAP does a lot more than just provide a more equal playing field,”
says Larry Rice, Ed.D., ’90, president of the North Miami Campus. “TAP
allows them to participate in college life in spite of what they may not
have had coming in. It allows them to learn very quickly that they can
complete college and that they’ve made a good decision by coming here.”

26

Fall 2016

“I had to make difficult choices from the start. I wanted to
compete in culinary competitions, but I couldn’t dedicate
time to practice because I had to work. I thought no one
else understood what I was faced with in trying to complete college.” ~ NMI Campus President Larry Rice
Rice’s own personal journey played a key role in TAP’s creation. Born
and raised in rural South Carolina between Columbia and Spartanburg,
Rice was the first in his family to attend college when he enrolled at the
JWU Charleston Campus in the late ’80s. He soon realized that his experience as a college student differed greatly from many of his classmates.
“I had a single parent and I was highly dependent on student loans, so I
had to work while I was in school to pay those loans,” Rice says.
That meant making hard decisions. While other students dedicated
themselves full time to class and drove around town in their own cars,
Rice took the bus or sometimes walked an hour and a half to class. He had
to balance a job with his studies.
“I had to make difficult choices from the start. I wanted to compete in
culinary competitions, but I couldn’t dedicate time to practice because I

Jada Sloan ’18 and Gilbert Cubias ’20

TAP Program Manager Stella Napoles, Psy.D.

had to work,” he says. “I thought no one else understood what I was faced
with in trying to complete college.”
Rice persevered, though, graduating and then managing a restaurant
in Hilton Head, South Carolina, before moving to Florida to start his
own private catering business and later earning bachelor and master’s
degrees at Florida International University and a doctorate at Nova
Southeastern University. By the time he returned to Johnson & Wales
in 1993 as a faculty member, he’d long since realized that his difficult
experience was far from unique.
In fact, a high percentage of Johnson & Wales students — particularly
at the North Miami Campus — come from nontraditional college backgrounds. Many, like Rice, are the first in their families to attend college.
Many others come from immigrant families. Rice wanted to build a program that helped students celebrate those facts, rather than viewing
them as obstacles.
“We knew that for students who are first in their family to go to college,
they don’t have that legacy of folks who did it already and can share their
stories and their encouragement back home, and who can identify with
what they’re going through,” Rice says. “But there’s something to be
proud of in being first in your family to go to college. There’s something
to be proud of in being African-American, being Hispanic, Dominican,
Haitian, Barbadian, or any of the other cultures who come here to be a
part of a diverse campus community.”
But how to foster that sense of community while also helping students
adjust to the new challenges of college life? Rice and a committee of
administrators began meeting in 2014 to try to answer those questions
with a new program, which soon became TAP.
As they designed the curriculum, Rice knew exactly what he didn’t
want it to become. “TAP is not a remediation program,” he says. “And it’s
not just one course that’s designed to fit everyone.”

Instead, Rice and his colleagues designed a flexible, holistic program
that starts on day one of school and stays with students throughout their
time at Johnson & Wales. TAP begins with administrators analyzing the
backgrounds of incoming students to find those most likely to benefit
based on their academic record and personal story.

“Students come into the university and even if they’re
prepared academically, they’re often unprepared emotionally. This course is all about bridging the academic
and emotional perspectives.
~ Stella Napoles
During their first term, those students then take a reduced course load
and enroll in a TAP-specific class that meets twice a week for two hours
at a time. That class hones in on teaching eight principles — from accepting personal responsibility to learning self-management to developing
emotional intelligence — that all aim to foster success in the classroom.
The program doesn’t end after that first term; throughout their time at
Johnson & Wales, TAP students meet regularly and continue their work.
Once the program was developed, Rice brought on Stella Napoles,
Psy.D., a clinical psychologist, to teach the curriculum to the 135 incoming freshmen last fall who met the new TAP criteria. Napoles says TAP
made intuitive sense to her once she learned about the concept.
“Students come into the university and even if they’re prepared academically, they’re often unprepared emotionally,” she says. “This course
is all about bridging the academic and emotional perspectives. For most,
this is their first time away from home and Miami is a big city. This may
be the first time they’re dealing with a multicultural perspective.”
Napoles’ class is just the first piece of the TAP puzzle, though. When
Rice and his team developed TAP, they didn’t simply want to teach students how to succeed — they also wanted to find a way to make them a
part of campus life. So TAP students are also given a series of student

www.jwu.edu

27

TAP student Leighton Said ’20 with collage project

Abraham Baullosa III ’17 in baking lab

engagement activities — from field trips around town to culinary events
— to meet classmates and grow bonds on campus. Lastly, TAP also
directly connects students to faculty members and encourages them to
ask for help or stop by for advice whenever they need it.
“I find students have a very difficult time learning to ask for help,”
Napoles says. “Society places a lot of that on an individual, that it’s all on
your back. But that’s not real life. Sometimes you have to ask for help, and
I don’t think many students are prepared for that.”
For the 135 students who constituted JWU’s first-ever TAP class, the
program became more than a class — it became a mark of pride.
“We have a student who’s a tour guide and she proudly tells all the new
students, ‘I’m in the TAP program,’ ” says Rice. “That to me is incredible.
They get it. They see that TAP is only positive.”
That was certainly the case for Abraham Baullosa III ’17. The baking
and pastry student had no doubts about his chosen field (at age five, he
dressed up as Emeril Lagasse for Halloween), but he was anxious about
the social aspects of college. How would he fit in, especially as a Midwesterner? Would he stay afloat without the support system of friends
and family back in Indiana?
“TAP enabled me to get a foundation group of friends and a mentor,
plus we were engaged in activities around campus and the community,”
says Baullosa. Creating and documenting weekly goals was transformative. “When I’d look at the list later and think, ‘I actually accomplished
that goal,’ it boosted my self-esteem. One objective I set is to graduate with
a 3.8 GPA or higher. TAP helps me focus on academics because it helps me
plan my career; in high school I wasn’t really motivated academically.”
As an orientation leader, Baullosa tells incoming students that TAP
addresses individual needs. “I needed self-esteem and confidence while
another person might need the program to help him with study skills.

TAP gave me the confidence to be myself and to put myself around people
who will accept me.”
TAP was invaluable to Yearwood-Stinchcomb as well. For the central
Floridian, an education at Johnson & Wales is the fulfillment of a dream.
When she was twelve, Yearwood-Stinchcomb had already plotted out
her life’s course. “I was making banana bread with my grandma and I was
like, ‘This is really fun. I really like this.’ Every year, I would make more
and more for our family and eventually I said, ‘I’d really like to do this for
a living,’ ” she recalls.
But moving to Miami was a big jump from Mount Dora and in hindsight, Yearwood-Stinchcomb admits that “I wasn’t ready.” Luckily, she
says, TAP soon gave her the tools to adapt to her new life — particularly
its focus on time management.
“I have a whiteboard with my schedule on it that I still use in my room
and I have another schedule on my phone,” she says. “We also learned a
lot about taking on responsibility, that it’s not the teacher’s fault if you
don’t follow through, it’s yours. You can’t blame everyone else for your
problems. That’s really stuck with me.”
As Yearwood-Stinchcomb and her classmates move on to their second
year, a new batch of freshmen started TAP this fall. Johnson & Wales
Charlotte Campus looks to adopt the program in 2018, and Rice says TAP
may expand to other campuses in the near future.
“The TAP program has allowed our staff and faculty to put on a different set of lenses where we can see much more clearly the struggle of
these students,” says Rice. “We can understand cultural differences at a
higher level, we can understand the impact that different socioeconomic
backgrounds can have and that being the first in family to attend college
can have. What TAP is really doing is empowering these students to succeed in life.” JWU

28

Fall 2016

MYTH #2

Networking opportunities
are hard to find.

Get connected now!
Visit the all-new

ALUMNI.JWU.EDU

www.jwu.edu

29

RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT
FAMILIES MEMORIALIZE JWU GRADUATES
WITH PLANNED GIFTS
Planned gifts can often be the best option to remember loved ones who
have passed away. Two gifts recently received to support students on the
Charlotte Campus are examples of the generosity of close relatives in
honoring their loved ones. Familial closeness and their connection to
Johnson & Wales University are celebrated by Mavis Pearson in funding
the Chef Shane H. Pearson ’97 Memorial Scholarship, named for her son;
and Janise Kyle in establishing the Terrence Miller ’09 Memorial
Scholarship, named for her nephew.
Aunt Janise Makes Gift in Nephew Terrence Miller’s Memory
Terrence Miller ’09 passed away in August
2015. At the time of his death he worked in the
Office of Student Life at Northern Virginia
Community College in Sterling, Virginia. Last
fall, Terrence’s aunt, Janise Kyle, established a
memorial scholarship on the Charlotte Campus
where he obtained a bachelor’s degree in Sports/
Entertainment/Event Management. In conversations with Chris Plano ’93, ’95 M.S., alumni
Terrence Miller ’09
relations manager on the Charlotte Campus,
she expressed a desire to “make the scholarship last.” Eventually, Kyle
decided to set aside part of her estate for the university to support the
scholarship, which provides aid to a hospitality student in Charlotte.
According to Plano, “Terrence was a loyal alumnus and it is fitting that he
be remembered in this way. We are grateful to Janise Kyle for her generosity and kindness on behalf of her nephew.”

Mavis Pearson Remembers Her Son, Chef Shane H. Pearson ’97
In March 2015, Mavis Pearson established
a scholarship in memory of her son, chef
instructor Shane H. Pearson ’97, who died in
December 2014. Recently, she decided to extend
the scholarship with a planned gift designated
for the fund. The choice to make this gift was
easy because she and her son discussed it
during his illness. His father, Tom, was a career
chief master sergeant in the U.S. Air Force and
Shane H. Pearson ’97
his mother continues to support the U.S. military. Mavis recalls that much of her son’s cooking skills were learned from
her through her Mississippi recipes for corn bread and biscuits, among
other items. When she was ill, however, she relied on Shane to devise a
diet for her that was delicious and nourishing, but avoided ingredients
that caused her distress. “Shane was born in Japan and during our years
in the Pacific, he absorbed the culinary culture and flavors of Asia and in
turn taught our household helpers how to prepare our American favorites,” she recalls. “Shane carried that skill into his teaching and always
stressed the importance of learning the fundamentals of cooking as
essential to becoming a chef.” Educated on JWU’s Charleston Campus,
Shane taught international cuisine on the Charlotte Campus and was
proud to have worked with a group of chefs to review plans for the kitchens
on the new campus.

~ Darlena Goodwin and Chris Plano ’93, ’95 M.S.

VITAMIX PLEDGES KITCHEN EQUIPMENT
FOR FOUR CAMPUSES
VITAMIX, which has donated professional-grade

kitchen equipment to Johnson & Wales University
for more than a decade, recently pledged to provide
nearly 180 of its blenders, along with hundreds of
accompanying tools, containers, accessories and
free Vitamix technical support, to enhance the
training of culinary arts students across the four
campuses. This gift demonstrates the company’s
Jodi Berg, CEO and
increased effort beyond restaurant and home
President of Vitamix
equipment sales to support professional culinary
education. JWU is one of the pilot schools identified through Vitamix’s
culinary outreach program to receive blenders and accessories that will
change the way students learn kitchen skills.

30

Fall 2016

“We are proud and pleased to donate this equipment to Johnson &
Wales University, a highly regarded university with a premier culinary
curriculum,” says Jodi Berg, CEO and president of Vitamix. “We know
from our research that more chefs in the U.S. prefer our blenders to any
others so we want to ensure the culinary professionals of tomorrow have
access to the equipment during their training to best prepare them for
their careers.”
Vitamix, headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, is a family-owned company
founded in 1921 as The Natural Food Institute by William Grover Barnard.
Barnard traveled the country selling modern kitchen products and teaching his customers about the relationship between nutrition and health.
~ Randy Rosenthal

he JWU Fund has launched the Leadership Circle
to honor donors who make contributions of $1,000 to
$25,000 in a single year to support the highest priorities
of the university. The Leadership Circle also welcomes
new graduates as associate members when they make
successive gifts of $100 in their first year as alumni, $200 the second
year, until their 10th post-graduate year when they become full-fledged
members of the Leadership Circle. Benefits of membership in the
Leadership Circle include insider briefings on campus news, early
registration for special university events and invitations to activities
on campus.
Over the seven-year lifetime of the JWU Fund the number of donors
who are giving at higher levels has increased each consecutive year.
“It’s time to say thank you in a substantive way to those who are playing
a vital role in ensuring that our students and faculty have the resources
they need to succeed,” says Ann-Marie Reddy, director of the annual
fund. The JWU Fund provides current-use dollars for a range of
important initiatives, including financial aid, study abroad, internships and general priorities of significance.
The university already recognizes donors of gifts of $100 or more to
athletics on each campus with the Wildcat Circle. Corporate sponsors
who support the university also receive recognition for their contributions. The new Leadership Circle will recognize individuals
who accept the challenge of supporting the highest priorities of the
university annually.
Rudy Poindexter ’02 is pleased to be a new member of the Leadership
Circle: “I owe so much to JWU that it is only fitting that I give back to
help the current generation have the invaluable education and life
experience that are part of being a member of the JWU family.”
Leadership Circle members will be invited to a special reception
at Homecomings and All-Class Reunions held on each campus:
Providence, April 29 – May 1, 2017; Charlotte, April 29 – May 1, 2017;
North Miami, January 27 – 28, 2017; Denver, TBA. Make your gift to the
JWU Fund to join the Leadership Circle by calling Ann-Marie Reddy
at 401-598-2184. You can register for reunions at alumni.jwu.edu.

Shoot for the moon.
Call 401-598-2185 or
visit jwu.edu/leadershipcircle
to learn how you can be a
part of something big.
Excerpt from a JWU Leadership Circle ad

~ Ann-Marie Reddy

ALL IN THE FAMILY:

Several years ago, the Paget family faced a conundrum: How could they afford tuition for
three children in college simultaneously? Thanks to scholarships and other financial aid from
the JWU Fund, (left to right in photo) Alex ’16, Keira ’18, and Paul ’19 have all been able to
attend Johnson & Wales. As Phonathon participants, Keira and Paul give back with their
enthusiasm for the supportive community they’ve found at JWU.

www.jwu.edu

31

CLASS NOTES
DAVID VANDERPOEL PVD

1

SOUTH HADLEY, MASSACHUSETTS

David is the chef for Genesis
Healthcare in Hadley.

PETER MATRA PVD

ANDREW WOLFE PVD

Peter is the resident district
manager at Citi Field, home of
the New York Mets, in Flushing,
New York.

OCEANSIDE, NEW YORK

After many years in hotel
management, Andrew shifted
careers to become a sales
representative of restaurant
supplies and equipment in and
around the New York City area.
He recently incorporated as
president of his own company,
Wolfepack Sales and Supplies,
and will continue to build his
relationships and expand
representation of factories
in this field.

1990
1973

1985

JOHN CSUKOR NOR

DONALD SHEAFF PVD

[1] MARK THOMAS PVD

BLUE BELL, PENNSYLVANIA

FORT MYERS, FLORIDA

Donald is a contractor and the
owner of D.E. Sheaff.

Mark recently opened the Clam
Shack restaurant in Sanibel; the
concept is based on his Rhode
Island heritage.

John presented “Latitude
Adjustment” and “Menu
Development: Translating Top
Trends” at the National Restaurant
Association Show 2016 in
Chicago, Illinois. John is president
and CMO of KOR Food
Innovation in Richmond.

1979
MICHAEL SIRIANNI PVD
LONG BRANCH, NEW JERSEY

Michael is the principal and
director of the Culinary Educational Center in the Monmouth
County Vocational School District.

1980
VINCENT RAZZANO PVD
NORTH BABYLON, NEW YORK

Vincent is the sous chef at the
Rockaway Hunting Club in
Lawrence.

1983
JAMES DOUGHERTY PVD
WAKE FOREST, NORTH CAROLINA

James is the banquet captain at
the Raleigh Marriott Crabtree
Valley.

32

Fall 2016

1986
JOSEPH CHIOVERA PVD
LEWISVILLE, TEXAS

Joe is president of emerging
markets and innovation and
design for Buddy’s Kitchen Inc.
in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

1988
LISA FOSTER PVD
CUMBERLAND, RHODE ISLAND

Lisa is the principal talent
acquisition strategies at Calculus
of Talent in West Hartford,
Connecticut.
JAMES GRIFFIN ’92 MS PVD
FRANKLIN, MASSACHUSETTS

Jim participated in a panel
discussion entitled “Farm & Wild:
The Great Fish Fight” at the
National Restaurant Association
Show 2016. Jim is an associate
professor at the Johnson & Wales
School of Hospitality.

1994

MECHANICSVILLE, VIRGINIA

1993
ROBERT CASPER PVD
PLAINVILLE, MASSACHUSETTS

Bob is a health officer for the
towns of West Bridgewater and
North Attleboro.
KARL GUGGENMOS ’02 MBA

CHS

CRANSTON, RHODE ISLAND

Karl presented “Brat Pack,” a
Foodamental Studio demonstration at the National Restaurant
Association Show 2016. Karl is
senior business advisor to
Snapchef and owner of Culinary
Solutions International.

TOWNSHIP OF WASHINGTON,
NEW JERSEY

1995
GEARY WILSON PVD
MARLBOROUGH, MASSACHUSETTS

Geary is the regional director of
operartions for Chartwells in
Boston.
ROBERT BLASI PVD
NEW YORK, NEW YORK

Robert is the new vice president
of human resources for The
Madison Square Garden
Company based in New York City.
He will have oversight of all HR
functions for the Madison Square
Garden Arena, Radio City,
Beacon Theater, Chicago Theater
and the Forum in Los Angeles,
California. Additionally, Robert
continues as an adjunct instructor
at New York University (NYU) in
the Human Resources &
Hospitality graduate program.

1996
SUZANNE BAGNERA ’98
MBA PVD
NORTH READING,
MASSACHUSETTS

Suzanne received the 2015
Lamp of Knowledge Award for
Outstanding U.S. Educator at
the International Council on Hotel,
Restaurant and Institutional
Education Summer Conference
in Dallas, Texas.
KERRY PORTER PVD
EAST ORANGE, NEW JERSEY

Kerry is the CEO of KSPORT Inc.,
a sports marketing company in
Newark.

business. Jon and Ron stayed in touch through social media. In June, John traveled to
New Orleans on business and stopped in to see Ron at his restaurant Chef Ron’s Gumbo
Stop. It had been at least 20 years since the pair had seen each other.

2005
ROGER HARVEY PVD/DEN
CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA

Roger, an RDN, CEC and CRC,
has accepted a position as senior
regional executive chef for
Chartwells School Dining Services
K–12.
MATTHEW MEINECKE PVD
BRIGHTON, MASSACHUSETTS

Matthew is the executive chef at
West on Centre, part of the Eat
Drink Laugh Restaurant Group
in Boston.
KYLE TYSVAER PVD
RIVERSIDE, RHODE ISLAND

Kyle is the CEO of Steal My
Wedding Day, an online brokerage
for exchanging wedding
packages.

Justine is a residential supervisor
at The Young Adult Institute in
New York.
www.jwu.edu

33

CLASS NOTES
2

3

Olivier Jenson ’08,
second from left,
with colleagues

2007

2008

2009

[4] IAIN CHISHOLM DEN

[2] SARAH CIRELLI PVD

LUVENA CAMPBELL CLT

MARY ADAMCYK PVD

BELMAR, NEW JERSEY

CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA

QUINCY, MASSACHUSETTS

In June, The Leukemia and
Lymphoma Society honored
Sarah as Woman of the Year
under a national program
designed to raise awareness and
funding for blood cancer research
around the world. During a
10-week campaign, Sarah
assembled a team to help her
raise more than $40,000 on
behalf of her father, Len Cirelli,
who is six years into his battle
with lymphoma. Sarah has also
accepted the role of director
of marketing at The Video
Corporation of America.

Luvena is a high school culinary
and hospitality teacher for the
Charlotte-Mecklenburg school
system.

Mary is a corporate chef at Sysco
Boston LLC in Plympton.

[3] OLIVIER JENSEN DEN

Mark is a project manager and
property manager for PWB
Management Corp. in the Bronx.

Iain is the head chef and owner
of Americatus. He also opened
Colorado Taco Co., a pick-up/
delivery operation specializing in
breakfast burritos and doughnuts;
it is part of the Americatus
kitchen.

JOSE RESENDEZ NMI

NAHANT, MASSACHUSETTS

MIAMI BEACH, FLORIDA

Jose has been promoted to
account supervisor at Omnicom’s
FleishmanHillard public relations
firm in Miami.

ONALASKA, WISCONSIN

Olivier is the general manager
of Home2 Suites by Hilton
La Crosse in La Crosse.

ASTORIA, NEW YORK

Lyslie is the assistant retail
manager at MAC Cosmetics
in Natick, Massachusetts.
KATHRYN MENIO PVD
Kathryn is the director of rooms
and guest services at the Hilton
Boston Logan Airport.
JAMAR PHARR CLT
CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA

CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA

Ben is the head chef at Nellie’s
Southern Kitchen in Belmont.

PAUL KOSTANDIN PVD
HENRICO, VIRGINIA

Paul is a chef at the The Blue
Goat in Richmond.

RUMFORD, RHODE ISLAND

BENJAMIN SHOLITON CLT

Fall 2016

MARK BOURBEAU PVD

LYSLIE MEDEIROS PVD

Jamar is a franchise owner of
Community Fitness Solutions in
Charlotte.

34

DENVER, COLORADO

4

5

EVAN LEMOINE ’10 MBA

PVD

VERNON ROCKVILLE,
CONNECTICUT

Evan is the supervisor of
operational audit at the Aix Group
in Windsor.
BRITTANY ORLANDINI CLT
VINELAND, NEW JERSEY

Brittany has accepted a
three-year teaching position
in Qatar.
[5] DAVID SQUILLANTE PVD
DOVER, NEW HAMPSHIRE

Urged by his grandmother to
apply, David appeared on an
episode of Food Network’s
“Cutthroat Kitchen” on August 10,
where he finished second.

6

2011

LOGAN MCCOY ’13 MBA CLT

[6] ELI COX DEN

Logan presented a “No Bones
About It” Foodamental Studio
session at the National Restaurant
Association Show 2016. Logan is
director of culinary and business
manager at KOR Food Innovation
in Richmond.

DENVER, COLORADO

Eli has opened a second location
of his Berkeley Supply store in
Denver.
[7] JOEL KALINOWSKI PVD
MIDDLETOWN, CONNECTICUT

Joel is the founder and chief
strategist of Blatant Expressions,
based in Middletown. Joel was
also recently recognized as one
of Hartford Business Journal’s
40 Under 40.

Adriana is a leadership development associate of regional and
small business solutions at Met
Life in Bridgewater.

Sarah is the assistant general
manager of The Darling Oyster
Bar in Charleston.

Douglas is the art director at Duffy
& Shanley in Providence.

Alison is the chef at Reno’s
in Chicago.

HARRISON GINSBERG PVD

ALEXANDRIA SAROVICH

GREGG DENTON PVD

PVD

SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS

Gregg is the owner of Reno’s in
Chicago.
TRAVIS GARRETT CLT
CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA

Travis is the executive chef at
River Bleu Steak & Fish in
Charlotte.
SHAUN LA GALA PVD
CLIFTON, NEW JERSEY

Shaun is the food and beverage
manager at the New York Marriott
Downtown.
HENRY JOSEPH LANGEVIN

PVD

KIMBERLY-ANNE BRENNAN
NEW YORK, NEW YORK

Kimberly is a client service
representative with Silverstein
Properties in New York.
MICHAEL CALVERT PVD
NEW YORK, NEW YORK

Michael is the front desk manager
at the New York Marriott Marquis.
JAKE CAMPBELL DEN
AURORA, COLORADO

Jake defended his master’s thesis
at the University of Colorado at
Colorado Springs, where he was
awarded the Criminal Justice
Masters Student of the Year.

NEW YORK, NEW YORK

PVD

Harrison is head bartender at The
Dead Rabbit and Black Tail at Pier
A in New York City.

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS

HANNAH HEYER PVD

Alexandria is the manager and
sommelier at The Florentine in
Chicago.
TAYLOR SPARROW CLT

NEW YORK, NEW YORK

Hannah is assistant front office
manager at The Peninsula Hotel
in New York.

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS

Taylor is an event manager with
Marcus Evans in Chicago.
KELLIE VEHLIES NMI

AARON LAMPKIN DEN

BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS

DENVER, COLORADO

Aaron has just been promoted to
manager of membership services
for the Colorado Avalanche.

Kellie is studying for her Master
of Public Administration at Suffolk
University.

BRANDON MATTHEWS CLT
CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA

Brandon is a representative for
Advocations in Charlotte.

MARLBOROUGH, MASSACHUSETTS

“Joe” is the business manager at
Promethean Solutions in
Marlborough.
ALEXIS MCMAHON PVD

BIRTHS

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS

Alexis is the pastry chef at the
University Club of Chicago.
ASHLEY PACZOWSKI PVD

2009

NIANTIC, CONNECTICUT

Ashley is a baker with Lillian’s
Cake Creations in Niantic.

[11] SARAH (BRIGGS) BRENNAN PVD
and Chris
Reily

ASHLEY PIERRE PVD
BROOKLYN, NEW YORK

2011-12

Ashley is a guest services
supervisor at Kings Theatre in
Brooklyn.

12

[12] WILLIAM CHASE ’12 CLT
AND KELSEY CHASE ’11 CLT
Riley Elizabeth

JARRETT STOLL DEN
KENOSHA, WISCONSIN

Jarrett is a clinical oncology
dietitian at the Cancer Treatment
Center of America in Zion, Illinois.

11

NEW YORK, NEW YORK

Elizabeth is a program associate
with the Greater New York
Hospital Association.

Brittany Leigh Photography

ELIZABETH WILSON PVD

www.jwu.edu

37

CLASS NOTES
2014
[13] NICK ARCURI DEN
COLLIERVILLE, TENNESSEE

Nick is the head nutritionist for the
Memphis Grizzlies and one of only
two registered dietitians in the
NBA. Nick was recently featured
in an April 5 article for Memphis
magazine entitled “The Balancing
Act: A Professional Athlete’s Diet.”
The article discusses his long
road to the NBA, which includes
time learning classic culinary
techniques at the French Culinary
Institute (now the International
Culinary Center) and a culinary
nutrition degree at JWU Denver.
After high-profile stints at
Scarpetta in Miami Beach,
Emeril’s at the Loews Hotel and
Nobu at the Shore Club Hotel, he
completed a dietetic internship
with the Denver Broncos, which
provided the foundation for his
sports nutrition business,
CUSTOMFIT. Before joining the
Grizzlies, he served as the
nutritionist to the St. Louis Rams.
He names JWU Denver’s Chef
Adam Sacks as a mentor.
JACOB BRIERE CLT
BROOKLYN, NEW YORK

Jacob is the culinary development
chef at Chobani in New York City.
ASHLEIGH EASTERLING

CLT

CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA

Ashleigh is the owner of The
Green Bunny, Charlotte’s first
meal prep restaurant.
EMILY HEWETT CLT
NEW YORK, NEW YORK

Emily is the events chef for
Chobani in New York City.
NOBLE HOPKINS PVD
UNION CITY, NEW JERSEY

Noble is the chef de partie at
Maison Kayser in New York.
NATE KEENEY PVD
NORTHAMPTON, PENNSYLVANIA

Nate has been promoted to
regional manager of online
marketing and engagement for
The American Diabetes
Association.

Alexandra is an account executive
at Hill Holliday in Boston,
Massachusetts.

[14] AARTHI SAMPATH PVD
NEW YORK, NEW YORK

Earlier this year, Aarthi, the chef
de cuisine of Michelin-starred
Junoon Restaurant in Manhattan,
won Food Network’s competitionbased reality show “Chopped.”
Aarthi dreamed of being on the
show while watching it at JWU
and credits the university’s
coaching and exposure as being
instrumental to her win.
ASHLEE SAUNDERS PVD
FANWOOD, NEW JERSEY

Ashlee is a hospitality administrator and executive assistant at One
World Observatory at the World
Trade Center in New York City.
SHANNON YELMINI CLT
JOHNS ISLAND, SOUTH CAROLINA

Shannon is a pastry chef at
The Ocean Course Golf Resort
on Kiawah Island.

14

2015

MATTHEW PAETZOLD CLT

REBECCA FARLEY PVD

Matt is the owner of Sal’s
Roadside Eatery Food Truck
in Charlotte.

ROCKY POINT, NEW YORK

Rebecca is an administrative
assistant to the chief technology
officer at Municipal Credit Union
in New York.
KILEY FRALEY DEN
DENVER, COLORADO

CHANCELLOR EMERITUS
MORRIS GAEBE (1920 – 2016)
The Johnson & Wales University community is deeply
saddened by the passing of Morris Gaebe ’98 Hon.,
JWU trustee emeritus and chancellor emeritus.
“Mo,” a longtime resident of Barrington, Rhode Island,
died on October 8 at the age of 96.
A Transformational Leader
If Miss Johnson and Miss Wales firmly established JWU’s
legacy of entrepreneurship, then Morris Gaebe laid the
groundwork for JWU as an institution. According to
Chancellor John J. Bowen ’77, Gaebe’s “students first”
mantra continues to guide his successors, and all of us today.
Relocating across the country to purchase a business school
and form an untested business partnership takes a big leap
of faith. Gaebe’s ability to trust his instincts and take smart
risks characterized his long, distinguished career at Johnson
& Wales — first as co-director with Edward Triangolo, then
as president (1969-1989) and finally chancellor.
By broadening the curricula, achieving accreditation and
formalizing the leadership structure, they turned a fledgling
school into a bonafide establishment.
“Gaebe laid the groundwork for the institution that exists
today,” noted John Yena ’06 Hon., chairman of the board
emeritus and former university president. “He helped create
the prospect for JWU to become a driving force in
Providence’s Renaissance.”
Life Dedicated to Service
Outside of JWU’s walls, Gaebe was a dedicated family man
and equally devoted civic leader.
For 66 years, he was the husband of Audrey Klee Gaebe, until
her death in 2008. He guided the formation of the character
of his four sons, who, like him, were all Eagle Scouts.
The Gaebe name can be found throughout JWU’s four
campuses on buildings, greenspaces, scholarships and
history. The radiance of the man we knew and revered
will continue to illuminate JWU’s journey.
Memorial donations in lieu of flowers can be made to the
Gaebe Eagle Scout Scholarship Fund at Johnson & Wales
University, 8 Abbott Park Place, Providence, RI, 02903,
or to St. John’s Episcopal Church, 191 County Road,
Barrington, RI, 02806.
www.jwu.edu

39

!

?

THIS ISN’T RIGHT.

STOP. THINK. TALK.

If your partner can’t give consent for any reason, indicates they want to stop, or says no — stop. It’s as simple
as that. If something has happened that has you feeling
uneasy (or worse), help and support are available.

If you feel like you are getting mixed signals, are unsure
of what the other person wants, or if your partner stops
or is not responsive — stop, think and talk about next
steps. It’s as simple as that.

=
ON THE SAME PAGE.
If everyone comes to a voluntary decision about what
is happening — keep communicating. If someone
changes their mind — stop. It’s as simple as that.

40

Fall 2016

Consent Is
As institutions strive to meet mandates to
educate students about sexual assault and
relationship violence, Johnson & Wales
has heeded the call and led the pack. Since
2012, students have learned about these
topics through the university’s “Consent
Is” campaign — a mix of posters and postcard-sized pages listing on- and off-campus
resources and signs for identifying sexual
assault and relationship violence.
“Ensuring that our JWU community is aware of these issues and resources is
at the heart of the ‘Consent Is’ campaign; it is not just to ‘check the box’,” says
Korina Ramsland Short, director of the Gender Equity Center.
The center began by reevaluating its four-year-old approach. Before, the
material was all on paper. As part of the new campaign, most of the resources
on the posters and sheets were transferred to the JWU website for ease of
access. Instead of a postcard-sized piece of paper, students are provided with a
campus-specific, credit-card-sized wallet card that includes the most important
resources to contact in case of an emergency, along with the URL of the newly
created Consent Is webpages. Accompanying these are bold-print posters,
each with a thought-provoking call to action and campus-specific URLs.
“The refreshed campaign aims to reinforce what students already know and
take it to the next level,” says Ramsland Short. “It also puts the information right
in their hands — or, rather, a click away on their smart phones.”
~ Rachel Lacaille

Shoot for the moon.
Call 401-598-2185 or visit jwu.edu/leadershipcircle to learn how
you can be a part of something big.